


Grade 8

by The_Jade_Goblin



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Destroy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Post ME3, Rated for swearing, Shakarian - Freeform, mentions of past!shenko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 17:38:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9282809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Jade_Goblin/pseuds/The_Jade_Goblin
Summary: The war - finished. Shepard - MIA. The Normandy Crew - on a mission to recover their Commander.Determined not to be separated once again from the woman he loves, Garrus, with the help of the others, won't rest until Danica Shepard is found, and been made safe and happy somewhere warm and sunny. After all, if anyone's earned an early retirement, it's her.But things aren't always that simple.





	1. Chapter 1

“Everyone all right?” Joker said, slightly dazed from the crash landing.

“I think I have all my limbs left.” Tali muttered, getting unsteadily to her feet.

“What the hell was that? A power surge?” Garrus rubbed his head from where he hit it on impact with the planet’s surface.

“I dunno but it took down all our systems down, and it destroyed that Mass Relay. Probably others too.” Joker said, taping at the flight controls, but getting no response. “We need to get this ship up and running again. EDI, can you run diagnostics? EDI?”

The robot beside Joker was still and silent in the co-pilot’s chair. Joker paled.

“Oh no…no no no dammit Shepard don’t tell me that thing killed all synthetics!”

“That would explain the systems going dark, and the Mass Relays.” Liara said.

“Screw that, what about EDI?” Joker cried. “Am I seriously going to be the only one of this team to lose someone in this damn war?”

“Well, not the only one Joker.” Garrus said stiffly.

The whole crew went silent. No one said anything, but everyone was now thinking the same thing. Joker wet his lips, swallowing hard.

“Shepard.” He breathed.

The whole team seemed to hold their collective breath.

“We’ve got to get back there,” Garrus said. “Back to where the Citadel fell to Earth.”

“How? The systems are fully blacked.” Joker said.

“With that explosion, the magnitude of it…” Liara bit her lip. “It’s not very likely that she –”

“Liara don’t follow the train of thought. If you value my sanity at all, please don’t finished that sentence.” Garrus cut in.

“If anyone could have survived that it’s Shepard.” Wrex said. “Woman’s built like a krogan.”

“Even if she did make it, the injures she would have sustained would be severe to say the least.” Tali said. “She wouldn’t have long to hold on, if we’re going to try to rescue her we need to move fast.”

“Yeah but nobody’s telling me how to get a dead ship flying!” Joker snapped, his patience running out. “How about helping me with that problem instead of worrying about Shepard right away?”

“Gee sorry for worrying about my girlfriend Joker.” Garrus said dryly. “It’s not like she could be dead or anything. Clearly engine trouble is the only problem we have right now.”

“Engine troub – _my_ girlfriend just _died_ Vakarian!” Joker snapped at the turian. “So don’t think I don’t know how you feel! I just lost my girl and my ship at the same time – we clearly have more problems than being stuck in the ass end of nowhere!”

“Enough!” Tali shrieked. “Stop fighting! This isn’t going to help Shepard!”

“It’s not going to help any of us.” Liara added. “We need to work together. What would we do if Shepard was here?”

Joker sighed. “Come up with ideas to get us out of this mess.”

“Use our individual expertise to fix the issue.” Tali said.

“And pull together to help each other.” Garrus finished.

“Right. Then that’s what we’ll do. We need our engineers working on the drive core, Traynor see if you can get our mass effect fields up and running.”

“Right away.” Traynor scurried off down the ship, eager to occupy her mind with work rather than the tragedy of their situation.

“Tali, work on the ship’s maintenance. Get our systems back online.” Liara said.

“On it.”

“Everyone else, we need to work on repairing the damage to the Normandy. Any spare metal you can find will do. We need to fix those hull breaches and fix our boosters. And finally, Joker. Do what you do best, and get this ship in the air. With a big enough mass effect field I can hoist part of the Normandy up in the air to give us a starting point, and when we get the boosters back online all we need to do is get us on the FTL.”

“Yeah. Easy.” Joker muttered. “I’ll need a diagnostics report of the damage though.”

“Diagnostics running.”

Joker froze, as did Liara.

“EDI?”

Joker turned in his chair, to see the mech trying to re-establish connection to her body, and to the Normandy.

“EDI!”

EDI looked up in surprise as Joker jumped over to hug her.

“Jeff?” she asked.

“You’re alive…” Joker whispered. “You’re okay…I thought…”

“Oh…Jeff, it is okay. I am fine now.” EDI pried Joker off her and gave him a smile. “Thank you for your concern, Jeff. The power surge caused a temporary loss of consciousness, but I am now fully functional.”

“Did she do it then EDI? Did Shepard stop the Reapers?” Liara asked.

“I do not detect any Reaper signature in the local relay. Several Mass Effect relays have been destroyed, but some remain operational. The threat is gone.”

“By the Goddess…” Liara whispered. “She did it…she really did it…”

“What about Shepard?” Joker asked. “Can you get anything on her?”

“I am detecting no signs from Shepard, her armour feeds have either malfunctioned or stopped. I cannot tell which.”

“Then we need to get out of here. Get this ship flying EDI.”

The consoles flared up with life again as EDI connected herself to her AI core again.

“Diagostics complete. The damage is not significant now we have systems online. Superficial damage can be repaired at a later date. However, the drive core is ruptured and I do not have the programming to fix it.”

“We need that drive core to get flying.” Liara said. “Is there anything we can do?”

“Wait.” EDI said. “There is a transmission incoming from the local cluster. It is from the geth.”

“The geth? Play it EDI, so the whole ship can hear.”

EDI nodded, and sent the transmission through the comm system.

“Shepard-Commander’s crew of the Normandy SR-2, the incoming units are friendly – do not worry. We detect damage to your ship the prevents you from flying. Do you require technical assistance?”

“Our drive core’s busted. Can you get us in the air?” Joker said.

“Calculating. Yes, we have sufficient programming to fix the Normandy’s drive core. Does any crew member require medical attention?”

“Most of our crew are fine, but some got hit during the fighting.” Liara said. “Garrus needs medical attention, and our team needs basic treatments.”

“Understood. We will descend.”

 

 

The geth certainly made quick work of the damage to the Normandy, but the medical attention was another matter entirely. Liara worked with the geth to patch up the crew, teaching them how to treat organic wounds was an interesting task, but eventually the crew was in working order again, and they were ready to go.

The team gathered at the memorial wall, and Kaidan stepped forward to place Admiral Anderson’s name on the board. They stood in silence for a moment, before looking to Garrus. The turian glanced down at the plaque in his hand. He ran a talon over Shepard’s name, and tightened his grip.

“I can’t…”

“Garrus, if you need me to do it, I can.” Liara put a hand on Garrus’ shoulder.

“We’ve been down this road before.” Tali said.

“We weren’t supposed to go down it again.” Garrus tightened his grip again on the plaque.

“We’ve done it before.” Joker swallowed as he choked on his words. “We can do it again.”

Garrus sighed. He stepped forward, and raised the plaque to the wall. Once again he was saying goodbye to the woman he loved.

His omni-tool pinged, and he paused. The signal was weak, but it was there. The hell…?

He opened up the transmission. It was full of static

“Garr…it’s Dani…I’m…del exploded…Garrus…please…hurry…”

“Dani! Dani you’re alive!” Garrus cried.

The team gaped in astonishment.

“Garrus! …elp…can’t hold on…long…”

“Don’t worry Dani we’re coming, we’ll find you just hold on. Hold on sweetie, we’re coming.”

“Th…nks…ove you…”

The transmission went dead, but now everyone was on high alert. They had hope now.

“Let’s get this bird in the air! We’ve got a Commander to save!” Joker cheered, heading to the cockpit.

Everyone took their positions, and readied themselves for the journey ahead. Shepard was alive, and there was no way any of them, least of all Garrus, was going to leave her.


	2. Chapter 2

Wrex scoured the wreckage of what was once the Citadel, now strewn across the Earth like lego pieces. He could hear the biotics lifting pieces of wreckage over the hill, the team desperate to find Shepard, or at the very least her remains.

Garrus was determined to not leave empty-handed, though Joker and the others thought it unlikely Shepard had survived the blast. Even if she did, the Normandy had been down for too long, there was no way she could still be alive after all that time.

Garrus stood still, straining to hear a sound in the rubble.

“Everyone quiet!” he ordered.

The team silenced. Then, remarkably, a cough was heard.

“Here! We found her!” Liara cried.

Garrus leapt forward towards Kaidan and Liara. Kaidan held the wreckage away from Liara as she dug her way through to Shepard. It was a brutal sight. Garrus had seen Shepard in every possible way, but this was new. And horrifying. Her armour had been blasted to pieces, some of it still clinging to her legs, revealing her Alliance blues underneath. Although, her blues were soaked in blood.

She was shimmering under the biotic light from over-use of medigel, and the burns were severe along her arms and torso. She looked like death warmed over, the only reason Garrus was sure she was alive was the shallow breathing. Garrus got down next to Liara as she reached Shepard, using his talon to gently lift her head from the hard metal beneath it. Her eyes fluttered to be barely open.

“Garrus…” her rasping voice was no louder than a whisper, but Garrus heard it loud and clear.

“Ssh Shepard, save your strength.” He said soothingly.

Slowly, she managed a small smile. “I knew you’d…find me…”

“Always Shepard.” Garrus murmured. “Now let’s get you out of here.”

“We have to get her medical attention, now.” Liara said urgently. “She won’t last much longer with injuries like that.”

“You’re so full of cheer Liara,” Kaidan muttered as he made a path for them to follow out of the wreckage with the injured Shepard.

Garrus gingerly picked her up, holding her close to his chest to keep her secure. She was so broken and small, like a doll, it hurt to look at.

“Garrus…I…” Shepard whispered.

“It’s okay, everything will be alright.”

“No Garrus I –”

“I know Shepard, I know.” Garrus said. “I love you too.”

“No…not that…” Shepard said. “Come…here…”

Garrus leaned his head closer to her lips to hear her words.

“I…I totally lost on purpose that day on the Citadel you fucking noob.” Shepard rasped.

Garrus was silent for a moment. Then he took a breath.

“Okay, you’re definitely living through this.” He said. “Because there’s no way I’m letting you die thinking you’re the best shot.”

Shepard’s cracked lips turned into a smile, and she laughed weakly. Her laugh forced a coughing fit however, which made her groan pathetically and lay limply in Garrus’ arms.

“You shouldn’t laugh.” Garrus chided. “Or make jokes either. Or speak. Or anything really just, just breathe and lie still.”

“Here I was hoping to take a walk.” Shepard swallowed thickly, wishing she had water.

Honestly it had been touching go there for a while in the rubble; she had blacked out many times from loss of blood, but knowing her team, and especially Garrus, were coming for her gave her the strength to hold on. Even being in the presence of her team was giving her a little more energy, more will to live, but Liara was right; she wouldn’t last much longer without medical attention.

Still, she would be lying if she said she hadn’t been waiting to say that to Garrus. She always liked to think her last words would be hilarious and not tragic and cliché like in the vids, she wanted to be remembered with a fond rolling of the eyes.

“Don’t think about dying on me Dani, you’re not allowed to.” Garrus said, as if sensing her thoughts.

“Not until we find out what a turian-human baby looks like anyway,” Shepard murmured.

“Damn right. But we really should get married first. Do things right.”

Shepard smiled as her eyes slipped closed. She appreciated Garrus’ distraction.

“Is that a proposal?”

“Depends on your answer.”

Shepard tried to laugh, but again it just resulted in more coughing. Once she’d recovered from her fit, she glanced up at the turian, who was trying very hard to look casual and not scared to death.

“I’m thinking a summer wedding.” She said quietly. “Maybe by the water.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Garrus said. “Springtime wedding? You could wear flowers in your hair. I’d like that.”

Shepard smiled softly. “Daisies. Like that flower you picked for me on my birthday.”

“My attempt at charm yes. Are you in pain Dani?”

Groggily she nodded.

“Well don’t worry, you’re gonna be alright. Ah, an Alliance cruiser, and not a moment too soon. We’ll get you back to a hospital and you’ll be just fine, okay?”

Shepard gave no response.

“Dani?”

Nothing.

“Oh don’t you dare. No, no you don’t Dani don’t you dare die on me now! Come on Shepard, sweetie, love of my life, don’t die now!”

Shepard could hear Garrus’ pain-filled plead but had no energy to respond. Her conscious was slowly slipping away from her, even as she felt new hands took hold of her body, and the feeling of sheets as she was placed onto a stretcher, and the cruiser lifting…flying away….and then nothing.

 

 

“I’m very sorry, but our rules are very strict. No one but immediate family.” The nurse said. “Commander Shepard is still in intensive care, and no next of kin has been listed. You will have to wait until she wakes to see her.”

“That could take weeks!” Liara cried. “Or months! She might not even pull through – you can’t keep us out!”

“She’s our Commander we have a damn right to see her!” Joker snapped.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot let any of you in unless you are family.” The nurse insisted.

The Normandy crew simmered in anger, until Garrus stepped forward.

“Does your human laws count couples as family?” he asked.

“Yes.” The nurse replied. “Provided they are wedded couples.”

“Good. Because I’m Garrus Vakarian and Shepard is my _bond-mate_ , you understand that? What is it in human terms?”

“Wife. She’s his wife.” Joker supplied sternly, folding his arms over his chest and glaring at the nurse, as though daring her to not let Garrus in.

“We don’t have any marriage records in our database,” the nurse said scrolling through her terminal.

“Of course you don’t, we were in the middle of a war!” Garrus snapped, finally losing his cool. “You know, the one Shepard just saved us all from?”

“Shepard’s captain of the Normandy, she has authority to officiate marriages.” Tali said.

“I have records of the marriage in the Normandy’s databanks.” EDI said.

The nurse clicked her tongue in annoyance, staring down the defiant crew members.

“Alright fine, wartime marriages are acceptable. You may see her Garrus Vakarian.”

“Thank you.” Garrus stalked off down the hall towards Shepard’s room.

“Anyone else?” the nruse asked tiredly.

“Yes, in fact.” Tali said smugly. “We are on Earth but this hospital is under inter-galatic jurisdiction, correct?”

“Yes it is, your point?”

“I am Tali’Zorah vas Normandy. Under Quarian law any crew member of the Normandy are my kin, and Shepard is my captain, this makes her my sister under the Fleet, so long as I remain a part of the Normandy’s crew.”

The nurse didn’t look happy, but she couldn’t find a reason to knock back Tali’s argument.

“Very well. You may have access to Commander Shepard,”

Tali nodded, and followed the path Garrus had taken. 

“You’ll have to let me in too.” Wrex said. Grunt nudged him. “Oh, and him too.”

“And why would I do that?” the nurse asked, her patience running out.

“I am Urdnot Wrex, and I declared Shepard an honorary member of Clan Urdnot for curing the genophage, and under krogan law this make her my clan-sister. Shepard is also Grunt’s battlemaster, the equivalent of your human guardians or foster mothers.”

The nurse was beginning to develop a headache from this stubborn crew.

“This checks out, you may have access. But no more than three visitors at a time please.”

Wrex smirked and Grunt chuckled smugly. Grunt let Wrex go ahead first, placing himself protectively in front of the door to Shepard’s room.

“Now, if there’s nothing else…?”

“Actually, I have an inquiry.” EDI said.

The nurse closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “…Yes?”

“The Alliance has given me sanction to operate under Shepard’s command, but I am more than just an unshackled AI. My shackles allow me to modify my programming, but it was Commander Shepard who taught me how to be human, it is only because of her that I truly feel alive. Since AI tech law is a new area, could this not count as foster motherhood? She taught me all the things a human mother would teach her child, and I am alive because of her.”

“I’m not getting paid enough for this.” The nurse muttered. “Yes, yes I suppose that could count. Very well EDI you may go in as well.”

“Thank you.”

Joker smirked smugly and nudged EDI with his elbow, giving her a proud look. EDI smiled.

“But the rest of you are just crew.” The nurse said.

 “No matter what you say, the Normandy is a home for people like us, people with nowhere else to go and no one else to turn to.” Joker said. “And if the Normandy’s our home, then this crew is our family. We’re certainly as dysfunctional as one.”

Jack smirked behind him.

“But we pull together when we need to. And that’s what matters. We’re family, we’re Shepard’s team, and we’re not leaving her to sit alone in some dingy hospital going stir crazy when she wakes up.”

“That is not the same –”

“We’re as damn near family as anything else.” Kaidan insisted. “Shepard’s got no one but us.”

The nurse sighed heavily. “Alright! Fine. I will make an exception for all those belonging to Shepard’s personal team aboard the Normandy. Now if you’re done bothering me, I have work to do.”

The team was successful, and smug about it too.


	3. Chapter 3

“Garrus Vakarian?”

Garrus nodded as he approached the secretary’s desk.

“Coming to see her again?”

“I…yeah.” Garrus said. “Is there any developments?”

“Not today I’m afraid. Dr. Lawson has been in touch since the operation, she will return soon.”

“I see. Thank you.” Garrus sighed.

“You know where she is. Go right ahead.”

Garrus nodded, and made his way down the hospital wing. Shepard’s room was the very last, at the end of the corridor. It had a window overlooking the Thames and one of the few parts of London to not look like a complete war-zone.

“Hey sweetie,” Garrus murmured as he entered the room. “I brought you some flowers. Daisies, your favourite.”

Though Shepard was comatose, Miranda said she may still be able to hear. She said talking to her might help her to wake up, so Garrus visited every day with news and idle talk to keep her company. He sat in his usual chair by her bed, they’d put a turian-style chair in there for him since he visited so often.

“I brought you Hamlet, thought I’d read to you since you can’t.” He said. “I know you know it off by heart, but this copy is in turian so I thought you’d like it. You always said you liked my subharmonics. I also have some letters from some of the team who are off helping with repairs right now.”

As he began to read to Shepard, he reached up to hold her hand in his talons. It was limp but strong, a small comfort to the medical team that Shepard was clinging on to life. It seemed that Shepard had held on just long enough to see Garrus, before giving up. Miranda assured him that her body was just recovering from its trauma, her mind was fine. It wasn’t enough, but he could wait. He’d wait for Shepard if it took the rest of his life. He remembered the operation that saved Shepard’s life was the most terrifying moments of his life.

_The nurses wheeled Shepard up the corridor on a gurney, desperately trying to red her vital signs as her team followed closely behind them._

_“She’s not responding!”_

_“What do you mean she’s not responding?!”_

_“I can’t get her conscious! We’re losing her!”_

_Liara gripped Garrus’ shoulder, squeezing to offer some comfort, but there was none to be had for the turian. Tali sat with her arms around herself, and curled up on a chair next to Wrex, who began pacing up and down restlessly._

_“If they lose Shepard I’ll tear them apart,” Grunt growled, looking like he was about to punch the wall._

_No one bothered arguing with him._

_The door burst open, and Miranda came sprinting up the corridor._

_“Wait! Let me see her!” she cried._

_“Only medical personnel are –”_

_“Dr. Miranda Lawson, I’m Shepard’s personal physician. I’ve been treating her for years I know her inside and out!” Miranda said._

_“This is highly –”_

_“Listen to me! I rebuilt her from scratch and I’m the only one that can put her back together now! If you don’t let me head this operation she’s going to die!”_

_“Let her in!” Liara shouted. “We’re not losing Shepard again!”_

_The nurses relented, and Miranda hurried inside. It was hours before Miranda re-emerged, her hospital scrubs splashed with blood. She gave a weary sigh, and wrung her hands nervously together._

_“She’s out of danger for now.” She told the others. “But her body has shut down to repair itself. She’s in a coma. We’re not sure when…if…she’ll wake.”_

Garrus sighed, pausing in his reading. It had been three weeks since then. The Normandy crew had been stranded on Earth; with most of the Mass Relays destroyed inter-galactic travel was difficult. The Geth were doing all they could to repair the damage, and it was going much faster than the galaxy could do alone, but it was still a slow process. As it was, at the moment Shepard’s team were given housing in a mostly undamaged penthouse they shared; they had saved a room for Shepard for when she woke, and the team came to see her almost every day.

Shepard’s hand twitched in Garrus’, and he glanced over from the window to her face.

“Shepard?”

Her hand twitched again, and she frowned slowly. Her hand gingerly tightened its grip on Garrus’ talon, and she coughed a little as her eyes ever so slowly blinked open.

“G – Garrus…?”

“Hey there sweetie,” Garrus smiled, the relief nearly knocking him out. “You’re up. How are you feeling?”

“I’ve…been better.” Shepard said groggily. “Oh my head is killing me.”

“Well you were hurt pretty bad. You had us all worried.”

“I had the strangest dream.” Shepard murmured.

“Oh? What about?”

“You and me had a cottage by a lake,” Shepard smiled. “And we had two adorable little children. One was turian and the other human. And we were having a shooting competition by the water. It was a damn good dream.”

Garrus smiled. “I’ll go tell the nurse you’re awake. And hold that thought, that dream might become reality sooner than you think.”

 

 

Shepard was asleep again. She’d been doing that a lot lately. She wasn’t conscious for very long when she did come to, but the fact that she was waking at all was a miracle. Garrus was positive she would recover, but until then he’d spend every day by her bedside to watch over her. Ever since they met he had been watching her six, and he wasn’t about to stop now.

On one such day when Shepard was sleeping peacefully and Garrus was sitting in his usual chair composing a message to his sister, a woman with dark red hair came in with a nurse. Garrus glanced up, expecting one of the team, but frowned when he didn’t recognise the woman at the door. The woman in question looked at him with a disapproving look, and her nose wrinkled in distaste.

“What is _that_ doing in here?” she asked sharply.

Garrus’ mandibles clicked in irritation.

“Get it out.” She ordered the nurse.

“I’m sorry madam, but he’s allowed to be here. Three visitors at a time, you’ll just have to share.” The nurse said.

The woman was clearly annoyed, but there was nothing she could do about it. The nurse left her there at the door, and the woman was forced the enter the room with Garrus still staring at her. She sat down on the other side of Shepard’s bed with a scowl on her face, and folded her hands in her lap over her handbag.

“You shouldn’t be here, _turian_.” She snapped.

“And who are you to tell me that, _human_?” Garrus growled back at her.

“I am her _mother_ , but I doubt a warlike culture like yours wound understand that.” The woman said.

Garrus frowned. “Shepard doesn’t have a mother. She doesn’t have any family, she told me.”

“Shows what you know.” The woman sneered. “And her name isn’t Shepard. It’s Denise. Emily Denise. She’s named for my sister, and I am Clara Denise, her mother.”

“Her _name_ , is Shepard. Danica Shepard.” Garrus said firmly. “Claiming to be her mother doesn’t change that.”

He had to admit the woman did look remarkably like Shepard. There was enough resemblance for the claim to be true, but Garrus believed what Shepard had told him – she had no family, she grew up alone on Earth on the streets.

“Listen turian,” the woman snapped. “I have found my daughter after a lifetime of searching, and you will not keep me from her. Just who the hell are you anyway?”

“My name is Garrus Vakarian. I’m Shepard’s best friend, crew member, and bond-mate. I believe you humans use the term fiancée.” Garrus said, with no small amount of smugness in his voice.

“You think you have the right to my –”

Clara was cut off by Shepard stirring, probably from all the commotion.

“Gare?” she mumbled, eyes only half-open. “What’s all…the noise?”

“It’s okay Dani,” Garrus said, reaching over to hold her hand. Clara glared at him, but he ignored her. “Nothing’s wrong, you go back to sleep. You need your rest.”

“I feel like I’ve slept for a year.” Shepard said groggily. “I can’t get up?”

“Not yet sweetie. Doctors orders.”

Shepard scoffed weakly. “Could always get Grunt and Wrex to break me out.”

“Now now, let’s not get the krogan involved in a hospital break-out. Again.” Garrus smirked.

“Krogan too?” Clara said disapprovingly.

Shepard frowned at the new voice, and turned to her.

“Do…do I know you?” she asked. “Gare who is this?”

“Long story apparently.” Garrus sighed, settling back in his chair. “If you feel up to it, there’s something she’d like to tell you.”

“I…okay. Hit me. Who are you?”

 

It seemed like several hours had passed before Shepard spoke. She sat there staring down at her hands, a permanent frown etched onto her face. Garrus had left the room to give them privacy, but remained posted at the door just in case; he didn’t trust this stranger, especially not with Shepard’s life.

Finally, Shepard looked up at the woman claiming to be her mother, and she scowled.

“Get. Out.”

Clara blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Get out.” Shepard said. “I don’t have a mother. My mother is dead, or left me on Earth, or whatever. Point is – she doesn’t exist. And if you’re claiming to be her, you must really have a death wish coming to me now.”

“I am your mother Emily.” Clara said. “They used DNA to track me down, I can prove it. I’m your mother,”

Shepard glared. “Say I believe you, that you really are my mother. Answer me something.”

“Yes?”

“Why?” Shepard snapped.

“Why…?”

“Why did you leave me?!” Shepard mustered all her strength to shriek at the woman before her, who looked so much like her it hurt. “Why did you disappear and never come back?! I grew up alone! I had to fight every day to survive! Where the fuck where you all that time?! Where the fuck have you been my whole life?!”

“Emily I –”

“My name is Dani!” Shepard shouted. “Don’t you dare come in here claiming to be the worried mother who’s been looking for her kid her whole life because I wasn’t that hard to find, I’ve been all over the extranet since Saren! Better yet, my Alliance records! Or hell, the orphanage I ran away from would have been a good start! I don’t know you woman, you’re nothing but a stranger to me. So get the fuck out of my sight. Now.”

“But –”

“Out! NOW!”

“That’s it lady, you heard her.” Garrus said coming into the room. “Out before I put a clip in your head.”

“Tell me about it, I’m tempted to do that myself.” Shepard muttered.

“How dare you two –”

At that moment security entered the ward, having answered Garrus’ distress call and coming to resolve the issue.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but you must leave the premises. Immediately.”

“But – but I’m her mother! I have a right to be here!”

“You’re no mother of mine.” Shepard growled. “Get her out of here. I don’t want to see her here again.”

“Come with me ma’am.”

The security escorted Clara out of the room, and down the hallway. Finally, when she was far gone. Garrus relaxed his grip on his Mantis.

“Surprised they let you in here with that.” Shepard murmured.

“Well you get a few allowances when you save the galaxy.”

“I’m sorry, _who_ saved the galaxy?”

“All right, so maybe you helped.” Garrus teased.

"I hate you." Shepard rolled her eyes. 

"Love you too Shepard."


End file.
